69
February 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
The Story of the Great King B y H elen H owarth L emmel
The Child and the Birch Tree In the heart of a great forest there grew a young birch tree. It had reason to be proud, for it was a very tall, straight, gracefully slender sapling. And it had reason, too, to be happy, for it had more room to grow in than the other little trees. One day a man and his little boy came into the forest. To please him, the father carved the child’s name in the. {>;irk of a big birch that grew near the sapling. After the boy wearied of admiring the beautiful, deep-cut letters, he looked around for something .else to do while his father wandered in the near-by woods. Seeing the sapling, he. tied it in a knot as near th% roots as it would bend, and left it so. Try as it would, the poor little birch could not undo the cruel knot. So it set itself to point its top, at least, to ward the sky. Many years passed, and one day men came into the forest to clear the land for a home "that was. to be built there. The owner, walking among the trees as the men felled and carried them away, came upon a grand old birch. He looked closely at it and at last exclaimed, “This is the tree! And here is my name. Dear father, do you know, up there, that you have by the grace of God made your lasting mark upon me, too? And I re member— here his searching eyes fell upon another tree. “How curious! The knot I tied in the sapling has grown into this. Brave little birch! You shall be sav ed. You will make a lovely nest for my little hurt bird.” So, to keep it from harm, a guard was built around the knotted birch. In due time the home was ready, and the owner brought his family to live in it. One bright morning the father and his little daughter came to the birch tree. A crooked little girl she was:—“a little hurt bird” indeed. Her delight in the tree, with it’s Sleepy-Hollow seat formed by the knot tied so long ago, made her father very happy. It was a lovely nest, just high enough from the ground, and almost hidden by the rich foliage of the queerly curving branches that sprang from the outside of the great knot. The father, closely watching his little one, was not surprised when she turned to him and whispered, “Daddy dear, I know why you saved this tree. We are alike, the tree and I-—here,” putting her .hand upon her twisted hip, “but—*.” The rest was whispered upon her father’s breast as he lifted and tenderly placed her unon the cushions that filled the nest. “But, Daddy darling, we are both straight —at the top. Oh, I want to let Gpd make me grow—up—up—up—to Him, and when I see Him, the dear Lord Jesus, I shall be— like Him.” Bible readings with The Story of the Great King: Ezek. 28:1-18; Gen. 1:2-31; Gen. 2:1-22.
He had, as well as to serve Him. This new creature was man. God called the man Adam, and He placed him in a garden which He Himself had made for him. This, the Garden of Eden, was the most beautiful spot in all the beautiful new earth. In it was every tree good for food, flowers of every color and perfume, and every kind of living creature. And God said to Adam: “Over all this thou shalt have dominion. All the creatures shall do thy bidding. I have not named them. See, I will cause them ¡to pass before thee, and whatsoever thou shalt call them, that shall be their name.” That is how the lion and the tiger and the elephant got their names. God said: “Of the fruit of the trees in the garden, thou shalt freely eat. It is here in plenty, and good for food. Of every tree but one, thou mayest eat. But of the' fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, thou shalt not eat, for in the day that thou eatest, thou shalt surely die.” And so God shared with man His own power over His creation—shared with him the plenty of His beautiful garden, keep ing for Himself only one tree. And God’s commandments today are just as few, really, and just as simple; yet people find it hard to obey Him. (To be continued) Treasure Hunt SlctcuMaftnfositKoH You have here the first letter of every word Of a text, little children, that often you’ve heard. I have giv’n you a start. Surely now you can do it. Begin with the S, and go straight through it. These words, sweetly spoken, in days of , old, Are more to be treasured “than much fine gold.” “The judgments (decisions) of Jehovah are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they . . . than much fine gold” (Psa. 19:9, 10).
The Story to this Point The Great King, in His Kingdom of Marvelous Light, made the worlds and myriads of angels of whom the prince was Lucifer. Pride entered into him be cause of his greatness, and Lucifer plan ned to steal the Kingdom from the Great King. WILL be like God,” said Lucifer. rWith all his wisdom he did not know that no one can be like God, for no one can do what God can do. “I will set my throne above the stars of God,” he said. With all his knowledge, he did not know that the throne of God must always have the highest place. When Prince Lucifer set himself against God, his name changed, and be came Satan. And Satan means “enemy.” From then on, Satan’s one thought was to steal from God the Kingdom of Mar velous Light, and the universe that He had made. To aid in this, Satan won to himself many of the splendid beings, and these obeyed him, rather than God. At last it came to be that God could no long er permit Satan and his bad angels to re main in the Kingdom of Marvelous Light, so He cast them down into the air and the earth. Like lightning they fell, and, as lightning destroys, so the earth into which they fell was destroyed. The sun no longer shone. Darkness and cold and ruin were everywhere. Nothing lived of plant or tree or any creature. How long the earth lay in ruins is not known. But at length God said: “Let there be light.” And there was light. The earth again was called into being from the ruin, and God made plants, trees, birds, animals, and fishes to fill the beau tiful new world. Last of all, He made a new creature which was greatest of all the creatures He had ever made—one for whom He cayed so much that He made it in His own image and likeness; one for whom He had greater plans even than for the splendid Lucifer, for Lucifer was made to serve Him, while this new crea ture was made to share with Him all that
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